it's about the media. who is going to win? >> greg: that worked out >> dana: thank you. >> greg: putting up a cartoon that nobody can read. >> bob: you jumped on the bible. >> bret: president obama's pick to run the pentagon says believe me now and forget what i said before. in a hearing that even his supporters are conceding did not go so well. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening i'm bret baier. the man who wants to lead america's military was in full retreat today before a senate committee. defense secretary nominee chuck hagel spent much of today's confirmation hearing walking back earlier statements that had several of his former colleagues questioning whether he is the right man for the job. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel shows us what happens in what was at times a heated and other times awkward

confirmation hearing. >> after two months of public chrissy. over the nomination to be secretary of defense, chuck hagel struggled to reassure senators he's up to the job and not soft on iran. >> i am committed to the president's goal of preventing iran obtaining nuclear weapon. as i have been on record on that issue. as i said in past, many time, all options must be on the table to achieve that goal. >> reporter: shortly after the top committee remember said he would vote no, inhof hit the nominee with this swipe. >> why do you think the arabian foreign ministry supports your nomination to be secretary of defense? >> i have a difficult enough time with american politics, senator, i have no idea. thank you. >> reporter: democrats routinely came to his defense including this jab at inhof to suggest he should act like previous leading republicans.

>> i believe strongly that the committee needs to be bipartisan. i hope that this new ranking member holds the same regard for that as senator mccain and smart warner -- senator mccain and warner did. >> much came from hagel's past statement and writings that republicans say show he isn't the right candidate. he refused to give senator mccain a direct answer when asked if he had been wrong on the 2007 surge of 20,000 troops in iraq? >> will you answer the question? were you correct or incorrect when you said the surge would be the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam? correct or incorrect? yes or no? >> my reference to the -- >> are you going answer the question, senator hagel? were you right or wrong? >> the nominee said the quote referred to his feelings about the iraq war in general, not just the surge. he took heat for his work with global zero, group which says

it's committed to eliminating all nuclear weapons globally. hagel was asked if he's anti-american nukes. >> the position of global zero, my position, some of the individuals national security leaders talked about including himself, has never been unilateral disarmament. never. ever. >> hagel backtracked on the comment about the political power of the "jewish lobby." >> i should have used another term. i'm sorry. i regret it. >> the use of intimidation, i should have used influence. i think it would have been more appropriate. >> coming in the hearing, hagel were controversial nominee. a number of senators on both sides said it was uncomfortable being in there. as he labored to explain the past comments and votes. >> bret: much more with the panel. if hagel is confirmed right now that is still an if, he

will have to hit the ground running on counterterrorism front. fox news learned that al-qaeda is looking for a repeat of the terror attack in algeria. catherine herridge has that story. good evening. >> aqim wants to strike western targets including the u.s. targets after hostage crisis in algeria that left 38 dead, including three americans in mid-january. care to feel emphasize no evidence of active credible plots, the attack algerian national gas facility showed the growing ability of al-qaeda in north africa and the associate islamist group to share resource, people and ideas. the u.s. can partner with a nation on counterterrorism,

they present unique challeng challenges. they move between mali, libbia, algeria. point that secretary clinton emphasized in the benghazi hearings this month. >> we now face spreading jihadist threat. we have driven a lot of the a.q. operatives out of the fattah, out of afghanistan and pakistan. killed a lot of them. including bin laden. this is a global movement. senior u.s. intelligence officials acknowledge the arab spring, long-i'm ally sideline or degraded regional intelligence services and the weapons fuel capability of the islamist group. >> bret: iran and syria are threatening action against israel for airstrike inside syria wednesday.

syria says israel hit a research facility. conor powell is sorting through things in jerusalem. >> syria's bloody civil war could be on the brink of expanding beyond the borders. as assad regime vowed to retaliation on airstrike on weapons convoy inside syria. u.s. officials confirm the strike on the convoy which was believed to be carrying sophisticated russian made fa-17. surface-to-air missiles from syria to the hezbollah fighters in lebanon. world leaders have long feared that the chaos of the syrian civil war would lead to transfer of weapons to extremist groups. syria denied weapons and claimed that israeli jets attacked a military facility outside damascus. syria's ally iran said there would be repercussions for

israel. russia called the strike unjustified attack. >> translator: this is a serious breach. this is unacceptable action against government. >> reporter: the white house has not publicly commented on the attack but the pentagon officials tell fox news the u.s. was given a heads up from israel. despite the saber rattling, so far, syria and the allies only issued threats. with the own civil war raging, it's not clear whether syria is if a position to respond with any real force. but launching an attack on israel could be used by assad to prop up his own crumbling regime. bret? >> bret: conor powell, thanks. iran says it's planning to speed up the effort to enrich uranium that could be used for nuclear bomb. they informeed the-up atom olympic agency it will install high-tech centrifuges at the main nuclear site. it's believed they are five times faster than the current

models. let's pull back a big and look at th big picture of the middle east. tonight correspondent jim rosen walks through the challenges that america faces in the dangerous neighborhood. >> with the russians now predicting the imminent downfall of assad regime in syria and the egyptian military warning of the collapse of the morsi islamic government in cairo, never has the middle east been volatile or vexing for the policy rangers. range of challenges on the administration. >> do you think we should make sure syrians get the weapons they need and establish no fly zone? >> i believe that part of our review is looking at those options. >> nor is it believed that the demise of bashar assad after a two-year civil war in which he killed 60,000 people would end

fighting between the civil war factions. >> civil war and new government arisen in egypt. all the things complicate our ability to fight terrorism. maintain regional peace in particular. oil security has not been affected yet. but instinct affects oil prices generally. >> 2013 is presumed to be the year long simmering issue of iran and the renegade nuclear program will come to a full boil in the form of israeli military strike against iran's nuclear installations. from the obama administration, they move beyond iran. >> the obama administration had a bet to partner with the

muslim brotherhood in north africa and another one to reengage the iranian regime. this is collapsing and this will put the united states in weak position. washington needs to do fast is for president obama to address those segment of society in egypt and libya and tunisia, on the one hand and on the other hand in syria, instead of playing the arbiter between russia a iran and other forces to engage civil society inside syria. these are the forces of change, forces for the future. >> in the confirmation hearing last week, america's new top diplomat sketched out a different roadmap. >> the president understands the stakes and the implications in the middle east. i mean, so much of what we aspire to achieve and what we need to do globally, what we need to do in the migrab and south after sha, south central

asia, throughout the gulf. all of this is tied to what can or doesn't happen. with respect israel palestine. >> solving the mideast, of course is a goal the eluded all modern presidents. secretary kerry sees the path to the holy land running through the actual holy land and suggests return to older model, one predating the arab spring. >> bret: thank you. which of these middle east challenges is really the toughest for the u.s.? let me know on twitter. follow me @brettbaier. another politician is in big trouble on twitter. that is in the grapevine. up next, president shut down the jobs council. so did he get the job done? or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk.

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>> bret: this is a fox news alert. you looking live. an explosion rocked a headquarters of mexican state oil monopoly temex.

reuters reports the building has been evacuated because of an electrical problem. fox news source tells us they have weekly accident and checkered past in terms of employee safety. there is an explosion. we are monitoring this. there are live pictures coming out. there is a big explosion at the headquarters of the mexican oil headquarters of pemex. we'll update this throughout the show. first-time claims for unemployment videos in the u.s. jumped by 38,000 last week. january jobs report due out tomorrow morning. experts predict it will hold for 7.8% for third month in a row. what does it mean that president obama shut down the jobs council? here is white house correspondent wendell goler. >> more than a year after the last meeting with the group, president obama is not renewing the charter for jobs

council. unemployment rate fell more than percentage point since the council's first meeting two years ago. 7.8%, no one in the white house says it's fallen far enough. officials defend the council's work and obama's interaction with it. >> job council provides a series of ideas. many of which the president did not require a formal meeting for those ideas to be generated. >> from the start, critics believe the counsel was intended to create appearance of action in face of soaring unemployment. only met four times. they criticized the council and criticized mr. obama for not meeting with it. >> one thing the president could have done instead of waste something much time blaming others would have been to convey job -- convene the jobs council created amid so's much fanfare. >> john boehner's press secretary said the president "treated his jobs council as a nuisance than a vehicle to spur job creation." on wednesday, republican

national committee chair reince priebus tweeted news this morning that the economy contract last quarter comes as obama's job council ends. great work, team. you're excused." council shared by jeffrey immelt and included prominent business leaders and economists. president obama bypassed the permitting process with the keystone pipeline. afl-cio president donald trump d trumka criticized it on other issues. >> the job council that didn't embrace the jobs program you say what are they up to? >> republicans say the council was ineffective are the same ones who block the president's job proposal. >> when we hear the ridiculous criticism from this it comes from people on capitol hill who have consistently opposed every growth initiative and job creation initiative the president put forward.

>> mr. obama issued a number of executive orders. >> bret: consumer spending slowed in desplat pite holiday season. income surged by 2.6%. the dow is down for second day in a row, falling 50 points. the s&p 500 dropped four. the nasdaq was off a fraction. senate signed off on pushing the debt limit deadline to may. senators prove the house bill that also includes provision some insiders are calling a bad idea whose time has come. chief political correspondent tells us more. >> they approved the house back no, budget no, pay bill with the current debt ceiling

of $64 trillion in mid-may when it is estimated to be $50 million more. the house and senate have to pass budget by mid-april or member paychecks will be held. >> the united states could default on the obligation every few months. not an ideal way to run a government. a short-term solution is better than another imminent manufacturered crisis. >> house republicans passed budget in the obama era and created the salary threat so senate democrats who have not do so this year. >> republicans tried to pass amendments that prioritize payments when cash runs first, pay interest first, social security and active duty military pay. and measure offsetting new debt with the matching spending cut. >> no gimmicks or timing shifts but these would be real cuts and growth in federal spending. >> democrats blocked each amendment. the no budget no, pay act sent unauthorred to the president for promiseed signature. >> the motion carries.

>> there is no break in the battle. new deadlines loom. unless the two parties agree on a compromise replacement before then. plus, at the end of march, congress has to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year or risk potential shutdown. republicans want spending cuts noon more tax hikes. democrats want the opposite. the budget knife will start cutting automatically. >> bret: thanks. still ahead, we will take you to a place where plenty of great-paying new jobs and they train you for free. first, why is big labor in a big tizzy over obamacare? my wife takes centrum silver. i've been on the fence about it.

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>> bret: the hostage standoff in alabama is still

ongoing. authorities say 65-year-old retired truck driver holding a 5-year-old boy in an underground bunker. state lawmaker says the boy is watching tv and has been getting medication sent from home. the kidnapper fatally shot a school bus driver before snatching the child. they are communicating with the truck driver through a ventilation pipe. the weather system that you know leashed severe thunderstorms and south is moving up the east coast. emergency responders in maryland and virginia were conducting water rescues early today because of flash flooding. wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour were reported in upstate new york today. power lines are down throughout the region. some stormy weather now stormy weather for obamacare. one of the president's most reliable partners organized labor is not happy with some parts of the healthcare overhaul. chief national correspondent jim angle tells us why. >> as obama care gets closer to implementation, supporters are finding unanticipated

problems. >> obamacare was put together by special interest. there was nobody making sure all the parts fit. now we are finding all kind of loopholes and problems. >> now some unions are finding they will be hurt, not helped by the law. contrary to predictions. >> the affordable care aband even other efforts happening in the private sector have the potential to bring down costs. >> obamacare will force them to buy expensive coverage driving up the cost. competing firms with fewer than 50 workers are not required to provide insurance and they will have lower operating cost and the workers get general subsidy to buy coverage. >> unions will pay more for the members and they will compete against people, get generous subsidies from the federal government. they don't like that. >> another oddity in the bill is many poor people are not covered.

>> the law as drafted anticipated expansion of medicaid for the most low-income working adults and then gradually people coming in to exchanges with accelerated tax credit. >> the supreme court said the administration did not have the power to force states to expand medicaid for which they bear part of the cost. in states that do not, the people with incomes between 100 and # 38% of poverty will qualify for federal subsidy to buy insurance. the law does not allow those below it to qualify for subsidiaries and they play to go without insurance. sebelius hopes more states will expand medicaid. >> this is by far the most generous federal state sharing plan ever been put forward. we are optimist take people will be covered. >> there are many more problems, so many groups on both the left and the right are thinking about how they might change the law. bret? >> bret: jim, thank you. republican party officials

said last week they want their politicians to stop saying idiotic things. well, that did not last too long. we did dig deeper in the question. did president obama really do skeet shooting as we said at camp david in grapevine is next. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes? just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf. go to campbellskitchen.com for recipes, plus a valuable coupon. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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(train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. >> bret: now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. dozen of job hopeful talk to

tacoma, washington, with high hopes. the state is hiring a pot consultant. washington one of two states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. now officials realize they need someone to teach them how to grow, dry, test, regulate and cook with pot. one applicant that showed is up co-founder of "high tide magazine." few people are buying president obama's claim that he is a big fan of skeet shooting. the president was asked by the "new republic" -- "have you ever fired a gun?" president obama answered "yes. in fact, up at camp david we do skeet shooting all the time." "new york" magazine called out the president's phrasing sa saying that, "that quote is how people usually talk about things with which they are not very familiar." your grandma asks if you do

twitter. the "washington post" looked at the president's past statements and down no mention of skeet shooting. it labels curious that the white house is refusing to provide evidence that the president has ever used the shooting range. finally, some advice from the grapevine. politicians of both parties. stock comparing political issues to the holocaust. republican state senator cheryl noxall of idaho is dra drawing steep criticism for the tweet she sent about the healthcare overhaul that reads in part, "the insurance companies are creating their own tombs. much like jews boarding the plane to concentration camps. private insuranceers are used by the feds to put the system in place." antidefamation league director responded to compare the implementation of a national healthcare policy to jews boarding trains to concentration camps is so over the top outrageous and

offensive it defies belief. she says she meant no disrespect jews but has not taken down the twitter post. tonight we begin occasional look at what we call the new economy. how does this sound in plenty of jobs. starting salary close to six figures and free training? it sounds too good to be true. it isn't. correspondent steve brown tells us it's available in west virginia. >> in the midst of the nation's natural gas boom, there is a shortage of qualified workers. >> we have situations where we cannot get capable people that are not applying. it's not for everybody. it's hard work. >> community colleges and trade schools are straining to fill that manpower shortage. >> don'tbe have this, you know, you should look in to taking. >> this is paral of shale mat,

20 schools using a $5 million federal grant to train people to work on the rigs. >> right here, the elevator. >> class sizes are limited but the training is free. >> from hearing everything about the oil and gas industry, opportunity they have had. that is what drew me to it. >> completing the training, position for what are called around here the best paying blue collar jobs in america. >> drilling you can make $15 to $40 an hour. there is a base salary. and then overtime. some of our undergraduates are making six figures. >> also in high demand petroleum and natural gas engineers. west virginia university produces four times as many as it did ten years ago. today, some students before graduation are already at work. >> coming up on two years of experience in the field now. so it's been like a blessing to be able to get my foot in the door before i even graduated. once i do graduate, you know,

the door is open. just got to walk through it. >> new grad with the me trelium and natural gas engineering degree can have starting salary of $65,000 to $95,000. three accredited schools in the country hiring teachers at the schools is more difficult because the natural gas industry can pay them more. >> bret: thanks. a hassle for hagel. president pick for the pentagon is drilled by the former colleague. we get reaction from the fox all-stars when we return. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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say that i obviously, his position on containment we don't have a position on containment. we do have a position on containment, which is we do not favor containment. snore it was a long day for chuck hagel. the president's pick to run the pentagon. senior administration officials are acknowledging that. they were telling mike emanuel in the past few minutes, "it wasn't perfect. it was a long day. " hagel made clore he supports the president's policies and tried in good faith to address the senators' question about his past statements and votes. they found it shocking there were more questions about the war in iraq than afghanistan. here is another instance where a democratic senator tried to save hagel from something he said about iran. >> we have never made any part of a legitimate independent government designated them or made part, made them part of a

terrorist organization. >> i can understand if you meant it's a legal entity that has international relations and diplomatic relations and is a member of the u.n., but i do not see iran and reigning got as legitimate government. i would like your thoughts on that. >> thank you, senator. what i meant to say and should have said it's recognizable, and recognized that the is remember newsed at the united states. >> bret: to give you a flavor of the hearing. long hearing. panel, steve hayes for "weekly standard." charles lane for "washington post." syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. steve? >> this is the worster if formenace by any cabinet in the past decades. what you showed i thought wasn't the worst of it. the difficulty in am -- difficulty in analyzing today is choosing what to focus on.

there were 20 or 30 misstatement osar times he didn't know what he was talking about or stumbled. i picked up these four which were the important one. he didn't know that the sequester cut come from the budget control act. he seems to be shocked by this and talked about in a way that was confusing. the second was what you played where he suggested that the iranian regime is legitimate elected government. he wouldn't acknowledge in repeating questioning that the iran revolutionary guard corps is terrorist entity. this is not in dispute by anybody. you had senior officials going back years talking about their role in killing americans. in exporting terrorism. he wouldn't acknowledge that the surge worked in iraq despite repeated questioning from mccain and others. something that is obvious to everybody. the problem with this, not just that he stumbled or he

had a bad day, the problem is that we live in a dangerous world. right now, this is a serious position. in the past 48 hours we have had report about iran restarting and speeding up the nuclear program. we have had reports about al-qaeda reinvigorating its affiliates and we had talk about north carolina and another test. you have can't have somebody serving in this position who is so untestimony with even the basics of all of these issues and all the things he talked about. he ended up his testimony today by suggesting in what was really am is a sad move that he is not that power. anyway. he said i won't be in a policy making position. that is extraordinary thing for somebody like chuck hagel to say. >> bret: chuck, play the exchange with mccain on the iraq surge that steve referenceed. >> you would defer to judgment

of history to sort that out. >> i want to know if you are right or wrong. that is a direct question and i expect a direct answer. >> the surge assisted in the objective. if we review the record -- >> will you answer the question. were you correct or incorrect when you said that the surge would be the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since vietnam? correct or incorrect? yes or no? >> my reference to the -- >> are you going to answer the question, senator hagel? the question is were you right or wrong? that is a straightforward question. >> i am not going to give you a yes or no answer on a lot of things. >> let the record show you refuse to answer that question. >> striking among other thingsability that, chuck, they were very good friends back in the day. >> but your thoughts on the hearing overall? >> i think that this is not the first time a nominee for high office has come to a senate committee with a long

paper trail. that contains a lot of difficult in hindsight things to explain. but it may be the most inartful attempt to defend such a paper trail. you know, if i were somebody who shared the views that chuck hagel articulated in the past, i would be disappointed because he sort of abandoned them desperately without even attempting to articulate his rationale for having said them in the first place. hitz basic problem when you cut through all the other conversation is that he repeatedly in the past sounded very energetic in his criticism of israel. very moderate and soft in his characterizations of iran. that is a consistent pattern in his career. he now is in a position of saying don't worry about all of that. i didn't really mean it.

so the defense of chuck hagel after this hearing has to be something like chuck hagel for secretary of defense, he is not a man of conviction. >> bret: charles? >> his problem isn't the paper trail. the problem is a demonstrated, incredibly remarkable lack of confidence. the two lines of attack up until today were ideological, the content of what he has been saying over the years is the main stream way out there, to the left of obama. as mccain pointed out. he got the surge wrong. the first line is on the content. he has been denying the sense of essence of a dozen statement and idea in the

past. >> bret: from the left and the right. on the gay issue, climate change -- >> he has seen the light on dozen issues. challenged in congress. what happened today was shocking, because it showed an astonishing lack of competence. he was wobbly, weak. fumbling. as we saw in the first clip, he didn't, when he said, when he corrects himself, on containment and says you know well, i was wrong about supporting containment, our policy is that we don't have a policy on containment, it showed he has no idea about the single most grave issue facing the united states. containment of iran or not. he was corrected by a democrat. then on the israel issue he was completely humiliated by senator graham.

when he was asked you said the jewish lobby -- did we show that? >> bret: yes. we were going to talk about the job council. unemployment numbers coming tomorrow. je more to talk about with hagel. more sound to play. we'll call an audible and do it on the other side of the break.

do you believe the sum total of all of your votes, refusing to sign a letter to the e.u. asking hezbollah to be designated a terrorist organization, being one of 22 to vote to guard terrorist

terrorist organization, one of two to vote on sanction this body tried to make on iran and the statements you made after palestinians and about the jewish lobby, all of that together, that the image you created is one of sending the worst possible signal to enemies and friends at one of the most critical times in world history? >> i would not agree with that. if you had a chance tomorrow, today, after lunch, vote to say the iranian revolutionary guard was terrorist organization would you vote no? >> times change. it recognize that. yes, i would reconsider. >> thank you. that encouraging. >> bret: interesting exchange with lindsey graham. back with the panel. you talk about senator graham's exchange with chuck hagel.

>> now that we have shown everyone how spontaneous and non-rehearsed we, are i was thinking of the tape where he quotes hagel saying the jewish lobby has intimidated senators in to voting for dumb things. he said name one senator. of course he said i can't. name one dumb thing? i can't. quite humiliating. he said something remarkable afterwards. he said that is the only time -- i should have used the phrase pro-israel lobby. only time i used the phrase jewish lobby on the record. when you say "on the record" normally you stop after jewish lobby. you never said it. what you are saying yeah, i use it in private. only once on the record. this is a guy who has shown he is no henry kissinger. the question after today is not content of what he said. the views he has had or the honesty. it's a question of is this the best mind that obama could

find? to run the largest entity on the face of the earth? i think it is a tough question to answer. >> bret: get down to brass tax here. votes, getting it through. what does it come down to, chuck? today, after the hearing, armed services chairman levin said i think he advanced his own cause here today. i don't think on the left and the right, according to twitter and e-mail and facebook and everything i read there were a lot of people who agreed with the chairman. >> well, the chairman is being loyal and saying what he should say in that regard. but i know that there -- as far as i understand, once cochran announced his support, previous to today it's probably the last one. are there going to be democrats who go wobbly? look back a few weeks and remember the schumer primary so to speak on the hague hague nomination. thought to be pivotal. he decided to take the plunge and support him. will the performance

reverberates the way obama first debate performance did through the blo blogsphere and o forth, that's what you watch for. >> bret: senator graham was probing and he had tough questions but he got a concession in that they are going to hold the senator, armed services is going to hold a hearing on benghazi next week. something that he wanted to have calling up we think defense secretary leon panett panetta. he was going to hold the nomination back, graham was if that didn't happen. >> he was. that is an important concession and it will be interesting to see what we hear from secretary panetta. there have been rumblings as the day went on that the other republican smarts could seek to put some hold on nomination given the performance that we had. you saw republicans i think offer some tough questions. what was striking to me is the number of democrats who felt like they had to go back and restate his position in a way that made them comprehensible.

made them less embarrassing. will democrats want to do that? i think schumer was interesting early get for the obama administration. to me the interesting group is going to be the group of red state democrats who are up in 2014 and have to answer for the pick if things go wrong. >> bret: get through or not? >> i'd say 51/49% yes. >> he will still get through but it's dicier today than it was yesterday. >> likely yes, but it was an appalling performance. i think schumer and obama are hugely embarrassed. >> bret: that is it for the panel. stay tuned for the latest update on guantanamo bay. all stations come over to mission a for a final go. this is for real this time. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one.

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>> bret: finally tonight interesting update to a report we brought you earlier in week. something that president obama promised on day one of his first term. and now, one show, apparently

has some new scoop. >> after years of empty promises, he is closing guantanamo office of closing guantanamo. we did it! finally america can move beyond the sad chapter of trying to close down our glub by the sea. choting the office of closing guantanamo not a moment too soon. i heard the condition in the office were horrific. people held for years and in cramp corners and water coole coolered. special envoy in charge of closing the president, daniel freed seen here judging mankind. has been reassigned to work on issues like iran and syria. that is just more obama cronyism. the guy fails at one job so they give him cushy post of solving the middle east. >> shepard: o